Say, for instance, you are taking an extended vacation where you will be away from your New York City apartment for a month or longer. Or, say you are moving to another apartment in the city, in which your move-in date is before the expiration of your current lease. With this, you may not want to waste your money on an apartment unit that you will not be utilizing. Instead, you may want to rent it out to a short-term visitor of the city, who can cover these payments for you. However, you must understand the legal implications that come with promoting a short-term rental. Continue reading to learn about the possibility of legally renting out your apartment to visitors with short-term stays and how an experienced New York City real estate attorney at Zimmet Law Group, P.C. can help you navigate the exceptions to these restrictions.
As a tenant, can I rent out my apartment unit for short-term stays?
Above all else, you must understand that New York City Multiple Dwelling Law holds that tenants cannot rent out an entire apartment or home with three or more units to short-term visitors for less than 30-day stays. Notably, this law applies regardless of whether you own or live in the same building at the time of the short-term stay. Similarly, the New York City Building Code prohibits short-term stays in one and two-family homes.
At the same time, New York State law does not allow you to advertise your apartment unit as a short-term rental on platforms such as Airbnb, TripAdvisor, HomeAway, etc. Doing so may lead to fines ranging anywhere between $1,000 to $7,500. What’s worse, you may get your landlord in trouble for welcoming short-term visitors into your rental unit; this is even if it was unbeknownst to them, as you forewent getting their consent beforehand.
Are there exceptions to these short-term rental restrictions?
While there are strict restrictions to promoting short-term stays in your rental unit, there may be some exceptions that align with your situation. They read as follows:
- You will have to be present during your short-term guest’s stay if it is less than 30 days.
- You will have to have only two or fewer paying short-term guests staying in your rental unit if it is less than 30 days.
- You will have to give your short-term guests free and unobstructed access to every room and exit within your rental unit.
- You will not be allowed to have internal doors with key locks that allow your short-term guests to leave and lock their rental room behind them.
There may be many benefits to renting your apartment to short-term visitors, but only if done correctly. So please get in touch with a skilled New York City real estate attorney from Zimmet Law Group, P.C. We look forward to having a conversation with you.
